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The Malnad ultra run

Woke up at around 3 and quickly got ready. I had hardly slept, guess it was fine, this is the story before every event. We were packed into buses at Ballavara Junction and driven to the start point at Makalmaradi estate The air was cold and I looked up to see beautiful sight of innumerable stars overhead. We walked up to start point about half a km. There were bright lights and music near the start point. We were asked to proceed to breakfast area. I was wondering what was cooking and maybe it was for 80k and 110k particpants. But everybody was in queue including 50k people. I was trying to figure out what to eat, the menu was elobrate salads, upittu, kesari bath, eggs, rice bath, ... I settled for few pieces of cucmber, tomatoes, a little Kesari and Khara bath. I was was not sure if my stomach could handle it. I had my own fuel in pockets. 1 full packet of jaggery and other dry fruits and 440 ml water. We took lot photos before the run and it was like a festival, people enjoying the...
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The Malnad ultra

I decided to sign up for the Malnad Ultra inspired by Praful of Free runners. In preparation, I ran the Nandi hills bull run 25kms in Aug. It took out 10 days from my marathon training due to body ache. The steep 700 ft stairs climb and the crazy run down hill hurt me. My Bengaluru marathon was disappointing. I realized I had not put in enough long runs, thanks to Bull run, Wipro run and a bout of cold and fever. So I decided to do a long run and only available opportunity was on 19th Oct, 6 days after Bengaluru marathon, I decided to run for 5 hours on Airport road. I did an easy self supported run, was feeling good during the run and wrapped it up after 43 kms in 4 hrs 35 min. My longest run ever. I really felt good and confident. 2 marathons in a span of 1 week was good prep I thought. Next weekend was an easy half marathon and then taper down. I had not booked anything to stay at Chickamaglur, Sathish a common friend had assured me it is booked for me too. Pradhyumna of free ru...
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Breaking 4

The D day was 21st October. I checked some race predictors, predicted finish was between 3:52 to 4:01, Oh no! not 4:01 again. Was determined to complete within 4 hrs. Set my alarm for 2:30 am but ended up waking up at 1 am, like last year. Took an Ola cab and reached Kanteerava stadium by 3:15. Warmed up for about half hour. Looked for Free runners but couldn't spot anybody. Finally, met Rakesh of WRC and was actually happy to meet a known person. We discussed our race strategies. Mine was to complete half marathon between 1:56 and 1:59 and do a negative split. Run at an average 5:35 to 5:38 pace. No accelerations stay calm even if I were slower. Keep the 4 hour bus in sight and over take him in third quarter. We were about 20 m from start line; there was no sign of 4 hr bus. Didn't worry much, my reference was my watch and body. The race was flagged off, exited the stadium slowly, everything was calm and quiet except for thumping feet. Rakesh was running at the same pace. Th...
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Breaking 4 - Preparation

It’s an unimaginative title. But after the last year's touch and go, completing marathon in 4 hours had become my single focus of running. I registered early and came up with a training plan based on Hal Higdon's intermediate plan spread over 16 weeks. Total mileage was 725 kms over the 4 months. My plan was to run Tempo on Tuesdays , Intervals on Thursdays, LSD Saturdays and Sundays was Fartlek as our WRC coach Hari decided at Cubbon park. Week days had to accommodate my long travel to office and work hours. Plan was to hit 55-60 Kms/week for last 5 weeks I had focused on Bengaluru 10k challenge, so my max distance was around 12k when I started on 8-July. Spirit of Wipro run half marathon on 25-Sep was part of my plan. Started on 8 July, the first 4 weeks went according to the plan. Waking up early on Tuesdays and Thursdays affected my sleep pattern, so was waking too early and falling asleep towards dawn. My week mileage was getting affected. But I was making up during Sa...
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My second marathon - The heartbreak

My second marathon I set out with a goal to complete the marathon within 4 hours Best case scenario would be to complete by 3hr 50 min, worst case scenario would be 4:10 Preparation: Registered early in May for Oct 15th Bengaluru Marathon My plan was based on Hal Higdon intermediate plan. Modified it to so that I run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, long run Saturday and Sunday. I was slightly ahead of plan till Aug. Then the rains came and it spoilt my Saturdays long run. But I had finished my second long run of 35.5K by 10th Sep. Ran the Spirit of Wipro on 17th Sep, it gave me idea on my preparation was progressing. I did a Half Marathon with a Personal Best of 1:48 on a tough course, it felt good. I ran a slow first 5 K and then upped my pace till 10.5 and I really turned it on in second half for a negative split. It worked and I met planned 1:48 goal. This would be my template for Full Marathon. I came across a timing predictor in Runner's world based on recent timing for HM an...
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Under Armour Charged Bandit review

Now that Under Armour has come to India via Amazon, thought i will share my experience of using their shoes. Have been using Under Armour's Charged Bandit for last 8 months. I have run 750 odd kms in these shoes. Bought this pair in US.Charged bandit is for long run and it printed inside with biggest font. Have used it for training and for my first marathon. It is comfortable shoes fits the feet snugly, gives a nice bounce while running quickly, feels quick, provides very good support to the feet. Made for neutral feet. Look: Nicely designed with understated good looks, am using a black and neon green combination with white sole and near the heels. Upper part is flexible andvery breathable with double layer mesh. The sole has grren support in shape of bones in the feet, nice touch. Feel: Feels soft and comfortable with lot of arc support. In fact, it is slight uncomfortable on one of my feet. I just had push down the support for my left foot which is slightly flatter th...
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